Saturday, May 17, 2008
WASHINGTON, DC (WUSA) - A George Washington University employee tells 9NEWS NOW was harassed on the job by the FBI.
Why? He claims it's because he's Muslim.
"For them to show up and embarass me like that, it's completely unacceptable," says Abdul Kadir Muhamed. He still has no idea why two FBI agents showed up at the George Washington University library where he's worked for 17 years in building operations.
"They say because I'm Muslim and they are here to check me out because I could be a terrorist," he claims. He says the agents claimed they were investigating based on a tip.
"It was kind of like an interrogation thing," Muhamed says. He recalls they asked him about where he was from and whether he knew anyone who's a terrorist. He says he does not and has nothing in his past that would connect him to any terrorist activities.
The Somali native points out he's been in the U.S. for 24 years and is now a U.S. citizen. "I'm a hardworking American and I pay my taxes and everything," he says.
That may be the case, but according to terrorism expert Larry Johnson, "They didn't take him into custody. He wasn't subjected to a full-body cavity search. He was questioned. So I think it's appropriate." He added, "If the FBI did not question him and something happened, then people would be hollering why didn't the FBI do their job?"
But clearly, not every GW student agrees. At least one student who described Muhamed as a "hardworking nice person" told 9NEWS NOW, "because he's a Muslim, they are coming to talk to him. I don't think that's right."
Muhamed has filed a campus police report about the incident. We contacted the FBI to get their side of the story. They would only say "at this point in time, he is no longer the subject of an on-going investigaton."
Written by Nancy Yamada
9NEWS NOW